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*Mark Rodgers excelled for Scariff. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
Not all superheroes wear capes but Mark Rodgers was certainly flying in Cusack Park as his unprecedented 1-18 tally, 1-10 of which stemmed from play, spearheaded Scariff’s gritty victory over Clarecastle.
Scariff 2-23
Clarecastle 2-21
Venue: Cusack Park, Ennis
An amazing personal tally that was all required to hold off the battling Magpies in what was a superb yet exceedingly tense seesaw wrestle for supremacy that was level on nine occasions before Scariff finally began to turn the screw in the final 20 minutes.
Clarecastle had held the whip hand up to the tow-thirds mark but in a ten minute turnaround either side of the final water break outscored the Magpies by 1-6 to 0-2, 1-5 of which was scored by the unstoppable Rodgers to soar 2-20 to 1-18 clear.
Trailing by five points with as many minutes remaining, Clarecastle captain Bobby Duggan led one final rally that slashed the arrears to the minimum but crucially never regained full parity.
A pivotal first victory back at senior level, Rodgers was simply outstanding throughout but was assisted most by teenager Patrick Crotty, puck-out magnet Diarmaid Nash and Martin Cunningham while along with Bobby Duggan, Stephen Ward, David Tuohy, Darragh Healy and Killian McDermott were the main protagonists in the Magpies’ challenge.
Grabbing six of the last seven points of the first quarter, four from Duggan, Clarecastle edged 0-8 to 0-5 in front and would never trail again for another 30 minutes as they admirably kept Scariff at bay!
Four goal chances were carved out in the second quarter, with Clarecastle goalkeeper Cian Broderick saving with his helmet from a Rodgers flick while up the other end, Jack Murphy appeared to get the final touch to a goalmouth scramble after good work from Stephen O’Halloran and Ward to boost the Magpies 1-11 to 0-10 ahead in the 25th minute.
However, within a minute, Scariff had cancelled it out as Martin Cunningham’s delivery was expertly fielded and batted to the net by Sean Minogue before Patrick Ryan hit the sidenetting immediately afterwards.
Niall Galvin’s second point did shade matters for Clarecastle by the break at 1-12 to 1-11, a slender advantage that they would still hold nearing the final water break despite Broderick saving from Ryan.
Four unanswered Rodgers points inspired intermediate champions Scariff to a 1-18 to 1-16 lead by the turn of the final quarter so while Ward and Duggan did level up the tie for the ninth time entering the final ten minutes, a relentless Rodgers would secure what seemed to be the clinching score when latching onto a break from a Liam Doyle free to flick to the net and power his side five in front.
Typifying what was a defensive coach’s nightmare encounter, back came Clarecastle with Bobby Duggan’s 56th minute goal from close range giving his never-say-die side a lifeline at 2-21 to 2-20.
Scariff held their nerve though with fittingly an injury-time Rodgers free from his own ’65 proving the relieving insurance point in what could well be a senior consolidating result.
Scorers for Scariff: Mark Rodgers (1-18, 8f); Sean Minogue (1-0); Patrick Crotty (0-3); Martin Cunningham (0-2)
Scorers for Clarecastle: Bobby Duggan (1-12, 9f); Jack Murphy (1-1); Stephen Ward (0-4); Niall Galvin (0-2); Killian McDermott, David Tuohy (0-1 each)
Scariff
1: Liam Doyle
2: Eoin O’Grady
3: Michael Scanlan
4: Cathal Madden
11: Diarmaid Nash
6: Daniel Treacy
5: Conor Moloney
7: Martin Cunningham
9: Keelan Hartigan
18: Patrick Crotty
19: Sean Minogue
12: Patrick Ryan
13: John Scanlan
14: Mark Rodgers
15: Shane Kavanagh
Substitutes:
22: Fergus Madden for Kavanagh (44)
17: Ross Horan for J. Scanlan (47)
8: Michael Barrett for Minogue (54)
Clarecastle
1: Cian Broderick
2: Marc McAuliffe
18: Stephen O’Halloran
3: Ronan Donnelly
5: David Tuohy
6: Darragh Healy
7: Patrick Kelly
8: Killian McDermott
9: Rory O’Connell
12: Stephen Ward
11: Bobby Duggan
13: Colin Brigdale
26: Dylan Browne
10: Niall Galvin
14: Jack Murphy
Substitutes:
15: Kevin Hartigan for O’Connell (41)
24: Conor Halpin for Brigdale (41)
23: Josh Brack for Galvin (44, Blood Sub)
10: Galvin for Browne (48)
22: Oisin Casey for Murphy (61, inj)
Referee: Jim Hickey (Cratloe)
